US must change before direct talks

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday said the United States must change its attitude if it wants to hold direct nuclear talks with Iran, as he hit out at Washington for imposing sanctions on Tehran.
His comments, in a speech marking the 34th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed shah in 1979, came just days after Iran's supreme leader rejected US Vice President Joe Biden's call for direct talks.
They also come at a time when Tehran and six world powers are preparing to resume stalled talks over Iran's nuclear programme in the Kazakh city of Almaty on February 26.
"The change of tone is necessary but not sufficient," Ahmadinejad said at Tehran's landmark Azadi (Freedom) Square amid chants of "Death to America."
"Stop pointing weapons at the Iranian nation and I will myself negotiate with you," he said, addressing the United States directly.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians, chanting anti-US and anti-Israel slogans, marked the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on Sunday.
Yesterday's nationwide rallies mark February 11, 1979 when the then Iranian army declared solidarity with the people, turning its back on shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.